The tourney was cause for great celebration, as spring had come to Westeros, or so men thought.[6] In addition, all of the White Swords had gathered to welcome their newest member, Ser Jaime Lannister. However, the tourney's ending was less joyful. After winning the final tilt, Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was to crown the new Queen of Love and Beauty. Instead of crowning his wife, the Dornish Princess Elia Martell, Rhaegar rode past her and crowned Lyanna Stark of Winterfell instead. Eddard Stark would later recall this moment as "the moment when all smiles died".[3]

Aerys summoned the fathers of those who stood accused to court. All of them, and their sons, were killed, with only Ethan Glover as survivor. Rickard Stark arrived with two hundred of his best men, yet none of them would ever return north. Rickard demanded a trial by battle, a request that the King granted him. Aerys declared fire to be the champion of House Targaryen, and had Rickard, who had dressed in his armor, suspended from the rafters in the throne room. Next, the king had his pyromancers, Rossart amongst them, kindle a blaze beneath the Lord of Winterfell.[7]

Brandon Stark was brought in as well, and placed in a Tyroshi strangling device. A longsword placed just outside of his reach, Brandon strangled himself in an attampt to reach the sword and save his father, while Lord Rickard cooked in his armor.[7]

Next, Aerys called for the heads of Robert Baratheon, Lyanna's betrothed,[8] and Eddard Stark, now the Lord of Winterfell, after the deaths of his father and older brother. Robert and Eddard were in the Eyrie, however, and Jon Arryn refused to oblige. Instead, he raised his banners in revolt.[9] This act is seen as the start of the war, which would last "close to a year".[2]

The Rebellion

And so, the fighting of the Rebellion began in the Vale. Though Jon Arryn called for all his banners, not all of his bannermen sided with him. There were those who sided with the king, chief among them Marq Grafton. Grafton called the other loyalists to aid him in barring the rebels from entering the port of Gulltown.[10] With the port blocked, Eddard Stark decided to make his own way back to the North by crossing the mountains, all the way to the Fingers, where he would need to find a fisherman to carry him across the Bite.[10] Once north, Eddard could call his banners.

Gulltown's defenses eventually fell after an unknown amount of time, with Robert Baratheon slaying Marq Grafton in the Battle of Gulltown.[10] Robert then departed for Storm's End to call his banners as well.[2]

Battle of Summerhall

Just as not all the lords in the Vale had sided with Jon Arryn, not all the lords in the Stormlands sided with Robert Baratheon. The first major battle in the Stormlands took place at Summerhall.[11]
The Battle of Summerhall (1 on the map) actually consists out of three battles, all fought on one day. Lords Grandison, Cafferen, and Fell planned to join their hosts at Summerhall and march on Storm’s End, but Robert Baratheon had learned of their plans and struck first, attacking each army individually as they arrived. Lord Fell died in the battle and Robert's forces captured his son, Silveraxe.

After this battle, Robert returned to Storm's End for unknown reasons.[12] There, Robert turned his enemies into friends, as he managed to get Lords Grandison and Cafferen, both loyalist commanders, over to the rebel side, as well as Silveraxe, the son of the late lord Fell.

Battle of Ashford

The next main battle that was fought was the Battle of Ashford (2 on the map). It was an indecisive victory for loyalist forces when Randyll Tarly's van smashed Robert’s forces before the bulk of Mace Tyrell’s main force could be brought to bear. Lord Cafferen, who had switched to the rebel side, was cut down by Randyll Tarly. Lord Tarly sent Lord Cafferen’s head to King Aerys II. By all indications, the battle was indecisive, however Mace likes to remember it as his one great victory over Robert despite his lack of involvement. Robert Baratheon managed to escape capture, in the end.

After the Battle of Ashford, Mace Tyrell marched on Storm's End, and laid siege to the castle. This siege would last "close to a year".

Battle of the Bells

In the meantime, Eddard Stark had reached Winterfell and called his banners, and had marched to the south. Hoster Tully, the lord of Riverrun, had also joined the Rebellion, on the side of the rebels, an allegiance secured by the betrothal between Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully, to replace the match between Brandon Stark and Catelyn, which fell through when Brandon had been killed a few short days before he was to wed Catelyn.

King Aerys, due to the events in the Stormlands, came to believe that his Hand of the King, Owen Merryweather, was ineffectual. The King was even considering that Merryweather might have been so ineffectual as to possibly aiding the rebellion.[13] In result, Merryweather was stripped of his lands and titles, and exiled.[14] Lord Jon Connington, a friend of Rhaegar's with a reputation of a warrior, was named as Hand in Merryweathers' stead.[13]

Jon Connington personally led an army into the field. He was at Robert's heels, when they arrived at the Stoney Sept,[15] which would become the site of the Battle of the Bells (3 on the map), the first major battle known to have taken place in 283 AC. Robert was wounded and hiding in Stoney Sept, when Jon Connington took the town by force and began searching from house to house. Before Connington could find Robert, however, the forces of Eddard Stark and Hoster Tully swept into the town. Connington and his loyalist army fought back fiercely. Connington managed to wound Lord Hoster Tully and killed Lord Jon Arryn's cousin and last heir, Denys Arryn. At the same time, the two armies were battling all around them in the streets and in the alleys, even on some of the rooftops. At a certain point, Robert Baratheon came out of hiding and led a counterattack. When Connington saw the battle was lost, he retreated in good order.

After the battle was done, King Aerys realized that Robert was not some outlaw lord, but rather the greatest threat to his dynasty since Daemon Blackfyre. Connington was exiled for his failure and stripped of lands and titles. To replace Connington, Lord Qarlton Chelsted was named Hand of the King. It was after the Battle of the Bells that King Aerys ordered his pyromancers to place caches of wildfire throughout King’s Landing, even within the Red Keep itself.[16]

With the death of Denys Arryn, Hoster Tully managed to make a marriage match between his younger daughter, Lysa, and Jon Arryn, who needed an heir, and thus a wife known to be fertile.[17][9] Hoster saw both his daughters wed during a double ceremony.[8] Amongst those present at the wedding was Robert Baratheon.[18]

However, like in the Vale, not all the Tully bannermen joined the rebel cause. Houses Ryger,[19]Darry, Goodbrook and Mooton took the side of the Targaryens in the war and Frey remained neutral until the situation became clearer.[19][20][21]

After the Battle of the Bells had been fought, Kingsguards Barristan Selmy and Jon Darry were sent into the Riverlands to retrieve the remnants of Conningtons army, while Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Gerold Hightower, was send out by King Aerys to find Rhaegar.[22] Rhaegar eventually returned, and managed to convince his father to ask Lord Tywin Lannister for help. From Casterly Rock the only reply was silence.[16]

Aerys' most recent Hand, Qarlton Chelsted, had become suspicious of the pyromancers who visited the King day and night. When he uncovered Aerys' wildfire plot, he tried to bring the King on other thoughts, but nothing he tried would work. In the end, he choose to resign as Hand, which caused Aerys to burn him alive. Aerys' favorite pyromancer, Rossart, was named Hand of the King in Chelsted's stead.[16]

Battle of the Trident

Eventually, both loyalist and rebel forces gathered for the decisive battle: the Battle of the Trident (4 on the map). During the battle, Prince Rhaegar and Robert met in single combat on the ford of the Trident, while the battle crashed around them.[8] Robert slew Rhaegar with a blow to the chest from his warhammer so powerful that it smashed the rubies right from the armor. After Rhaegar fell, the Targaryen host broke and ran, and the victory went to the rebels.

Amongst the dead on the side of the royalists were two of the three Kingsguard who had been present for the battle, Prince Lewyn Martell and Ser Jonothor Darry. Ser Barristan Selmy also present, had been severely wounded.

Having been severely wounded by Rhaegar during the battle, Robert gave the command of pursuit to his friend, Eddard Stark, hoping to besiege King's Landing, which was believed to have been held by several thousand men.[2] With the war all but won, House Frey declared for the rebels. Walder Frey's slow response in the rebellion would cause Lord Hoster Tully to name him "the late Lord Frey" ever since.[19]

Sack of King's Landing

The Sack of King’s Landing (5 on the map) was the last major battle of the war. Lord Tywin Lannister, who had remained neutral during the entire war, had finally stirred from Casterly Rock, suddenly appearing, shortly after the Battle of the Trident, in front of the gates of King's Landing, claiming loyalty to Aerys and asking to be let in. Aerys favored the advice of Grand Maester Pycelle over that of his spymaster Varys and opened the gates of the city. This proved Aerys' undoing, as the Lannister forces began to sack the city in Robert's name. Realizing all was lost, Aerys ordered his last Hand, the pyromancer Rossart, to ignite the wildfire caches throughout the city, saying,

The traitors want my city, but I’ll give them naught but ashes. Let Robert be king over charred bones and cooked meat.[16]

Aerys then ordered Jaime Lannister, the last of his Kingsguard present in the city, and Tywin Lannisters's own son, to kill Lord Tywin. Instead, Jaime slew Lord Rossart and then murdered Aerys himself in the throne room. Meanwhile, Ser Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch had entered Maegor's Holdfast, to deal with the rest of the royal family, to secure the throne for Robert and to prove that House Lannister had forsaken the Targaryens forever. Gregor Clegane killed Prince Aegon, Prince Rhaegar's son and heir, while the babe's mother watched, and then raped and murdered Princess Elia herself with Aegon's blood and brains still on his hands. Ser Amory dragged Princess Rhaenys from under her father's bed and killed her, stabbing her half a hundred times. When Eddard Stark arrived shortly thereafter, he found Jaime Lannister seated on the Iron Throne and Aerys's corpse slumped below it.

When Robert Baratheon finally arrived in the city, Tywin Lannister presented the bodies of Elia, Aegon and Rhaenys as tokens of his fealty. Robert Baratheon was pleased with the deaths of Rhaegar's family, but Eddard Stark thought it a brutal act, and called it murder of children. This resulted in an argument between Eddard and Robert, which led to Stark riding out alone to finish the war in the south.[2]

Siege of Storm's End

Although more attrition than actual battle, the Siege of Storm’s End (6 on the map) held up Mace Tyrell’s forces at Storm's End for the better part of the entire war. During this siege the forces of the Reach, led by Mace and Paxter Redwyne, feasted within sight of the castle while Stannis Baratheon and his men starved inside. Help for Storm's End eventually came in the form of Davos Seaworth, who smuggled a cargo of onions past the blockade. In the end, Stannis and his forces held out until Eddard Stark arrived. Lord Tyrell, at Starks arrival, quickly dipped his banners.[26]

Assault on Dragonstone

After the royalist defeat at the Trident, Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys were sent to the island of Dragonstone[16] with the Red Keep's master-at-arms, Ser Willem Darry. There, Prince Viserys was crowned by his mother,[27], while at the mainland, Stannis Baratheon began constructing a new fleet to lead an assault on Dragonstone.

Nine months after the flight to Dragonstone,[28] the queen died in childbed, giving birth to Daenerys Targaryen during a great storm that destroyed the Targaryen fleet at anchor.[28] With most of the Targaryen fleet destroyed, and with the Baratheon fleet ready to take Dragonstone, the Targaryen household at the last Targaryen stronghold was willing to sell the remaining Targaryen children to Robert Baratheon. Before Stannis could arrive, however, Ser Willem Darry and a handful of men smuggled Viserys, Daenerys, and her wet nurse from the nursery and sailed for Braavos, where the last Targaryens began their lives of wandering exile. Stannis led the successful assault on Dragonstone.

Outcome

Following the successful conclusion of the rebellion, House Targaryen was displaced from power and most of its members wiped out, with only two survivors in exile across the narrow sea. Robert Baratheon took the Iron Throne and named Jon Arryn his Hand. As Lyanna Stark had died after her abduction, Jon Arryn convinced Robert to marry Cersei Lannister instead, to bind House Lannister closely to them.

Rumours arose of Dorne plotting another rebellion, with Dornish Prince Oberyn Martell, angered about the death of his sister, nephew and niece, trying to raise the banners for Viserys Targaryen. Ravens flew and riders rode, but the messeges they carried remain unknown until this day, as Jon Arryn went to Dorne the year after the Rebellion, and discussed a peace with Doran Martell. All tales on rebellion ended since then.[29]

↑281AC is called "the year of the false spring", showing that it had been winter previously. The term "false spring" shows that the warmer weather had only been for a short period of time, and that winter weather thus returned shortly thereafter.